Oil Companies Evacuate Staff From Iraqi Kurdistan

Operations Suspended at Some Fields as U.S. Begins Airstrikes to Halt Advance of Islamist Militants

Sarah Kent

Oil companies have begun evacuating staff and suspending operations at some fields in Iraqi Kurdistan as the U.S. begins airstrikes intended to halt the advance of Sunni extremists toward the region's capital Erbil.

London-based Afren and Canada-listed Oryx Petroleum both announced Friday they had suspended parts of their operations in the country. Anglo-Turkish Genel Energy said it was withdrawing some nonessential personnel, following a similar announcement by Chevron Thursday.